This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 from an application entitled Process Management Method Using Servo Track Writer earlier filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on the 20th day of February 1998, and there duly assigned Ser. No. 5444/1998, a copy of which is annexed hereto.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to servo track writing in a magnetic storage device, and in particular, to an efficient process management method using a servo track writer.
2. Related Art
Computer systems are information handling systems that are utilized by many individuals and businesses today. A computer system can be defined as a microcomputer that includes a central processing unit (CPU), a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory such as read only memory (ROM), a display monitor, a keyboard, a mouse or other input device such as a trackball, a floppy diskette drive, a compact disc-read only memory (CD-ROM) drive, a modem, a hard disk storage device, and a printer. A computer system""s main board, which is a printed circuit board known as a motherboard, is used to electrically connect these components together. A computer system can be a desktop computer, a portable computer such as a notebook computer or palm-sized computer, or other type of computer.
The central processing unit is often described as a microprocessor. The microprocessor is an electronic component having internal logic circuitry handling most, if not all, the data processing in the computer system. The internal logic circuitry of microprocessors is typically divided into three functional parts known as the input/output (I/O) unit, the control unit, and the arithmetic-logic unit (ALU). These three functional parts interact together and determine the power and performance of the microprocessor. The combination of the control unit and the arithmetic-logic unit can be referred to as the central processing unit. Also, the combination of the input/output unit, the control unit, and the arithmetic-logic unit can be referred to as the central processing unit.
The hard disk storage device can also be referred to as a hard disk drive (HDD) containing a hard disk, wherein the hard disk is the actual storage medium. A platter is another term for a hard disk. The hard disk drive is an auxiliary memory unit of the computer system. The hard disk drive contains components enabling data to be received from the associated computer system and then written to the hard disk, and also enabling data to be read from the hard disk and then transmitted to the associated computer system. The hard disk drive includes a magnetic read/write head which flies above the surface of the hard disk while the hard disk is rotating.
The hard disk has a plurality of concentric tracks for storing data. Each track has a plurality of sectors. Some hard disk drives contain several hard disks, each hard disk being horizontally mounted on one shared vertical spindle-axis, so that the hard disks form a stack of hard disks. When a disk drive has a plurality of hard disks, with each disk having its own read/write head, every read/write head is aligned on a separate track of its associated hard disk. A head actuator locks all the heads together so that all heads are at the same position from the center of the disk along a given radius. The vertical stack of tracks formed by such an arrangement is referred to as a cylinder. The number of cylinders in a hard disk drive is the same as the number of tracks on a hard disk of that hard disk drive.
A primary function of the hard disk drive is to receive data from the associated computer system, write the data onto the hard disk without loss of the data, and then read and transmit the data to the computer system when necessary. Therefore, a manufacturer of the hard disk drive not only makes an effort to maximize data recording capacity, but also looks for various means to prevent data loss when writing and reading the data.
A magnetic storage device, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a floppy disk drive. is widely used as an auxiliary memory for a computer system. Especially, the hard disk drive offers the benefits of rapid access to data as well as stable storage of a large amount of data.
In such magnetic storage devices, it is necessary that servo information be originally recorded, generally during a phase of factory check out, before the system can be operational. This is true because the servo information is relied upon for normal track seeking (counting), track following, and head velocity determination. The servo information is originally recorded on the magnetic storage device using a servo track writer (STW).
All disk drives require some means of determining the radial position of the read-write head over the disk so that the head can be accurately positioned over any desired track. Typically this is accomplished by placing servo information on one or more of the disk surfaces for reading by magnetic or optical heads. Some disk drives are known as sector servo drives and store servo information interspersed with the data on each disk surface.
I have found that a hard disk drive manufacturing process can be inefficient and unnecessarily expensive. Efforts have been made to develop improvements pertaining to servo-related issues and magnetic storage devices such as hard disk drives.
Exemplars of recent efforts in the art include U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,294 for a Servo Track Writer with Tuned Damper issued to Fioravanti, U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,542 for a Servo-Track Writer System Having a Plurality of Engaging Pins Co-Axially Rotated with Head Actuator Pivot Axes issued to Szeremeta, U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,848 for a Sector Servo Data Recording Disk Having Data Regions Without Identification (ID), Fields issued to Best et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,524 for a Magnetic Storage Apparatus Employing Flexible Record Disks with Peripheral Disk-Identification Means issued to Griffiths et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,004 for a High Capacity Disk File with Embedded Sector Servo issued to Moon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,943 for a Self-aligning Air Bearing for Use with Servo-Track Writer issued to Szeremeta, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,470 for a Method and Apparatus for Recording Disk Servo Information with Detachable Position Decoder issued to Brunnett et al.
While these recent efforts provide advantages, I note that they fail to adequately provide a process management method using a servo track writer for efficiently and conveniently managing a hard disk drive manufacturing process and reducing manufacturing costs.
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a process management method using a servo track writer, in which a serial drive number is written on a disk to efficiently manage a hard disk drive manufacturing process.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a process management method using a servo track writer, in which a serial drive number is written on a disk to efficiently manage a hard disk drive manufacturing process and reduce manufacture cost.
To achieve the above objects and others, there is provided a method of managing a manufacturing process of a hard disk drive having a disk as a recording medium. The disk is divided into a data band for writing user data and a plurality of protection bands. In the method, a serial number of the hard disk drive is read, the serial number is written at least in one of the bands during servo track writing, and the written serial number is read for use in the manufacturing process.
To achieve these and other objects in accordance with the principles of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the present invention provides a method, comprising: reading identification data from a first location, said identification data identifying a storage unit; writing encoded data corresponding to said identification data to a second location separately located from said first location, said second location being on said storage unit; and reading said encoded data from said second location on said storage unit.
To achieve these and other objects in accordance with the principles of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the present invention provides an apparatus, comprising: a disk storing user data and encoded data; a first reading unit reading identification data identifying said disk; a writing unit writing said encoded data to said disk, said encoded data corresponding to said identification data; and a second reading unit reading said encoded data from said disk.
To achieve these and other objects in accordance with the principles of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the present invention provides a method of managing a manufacturing process of a hard disk drive having a disk as a recording medium divided into a data region storing user data and a plurality of protection regions, comprising: reading a serial number of a hard disk drive, said hard disk drive having a plurality of subparts including a disk, said disk being divided into a data region storing user data and a plurality of protection regions; writing said serial number to at least one of said regions, said writing of said serial number being performed during a servo track writing; and reading said serial number from said at least one of said regions during a manufacturing process.
The present invention is more specifically described in the following paragraphs by reference to the drawings attached only by way of example. Other advantages and features will become apparent from the following description and from the claims.